“In January 2013, Ohio National Guard 52nd Civil Support Team members participated in a one-day training exercise in Portsmouth that was created and run by the West Virginia National Guard. The exercise–one of more than 20 the team did last year was designed to test team members’ ability to respond to an unknown chemical, biological, radiological or high-yield explosive incident. To maximize the realism of the exercise, the Ohio National Guard wasn’t involved in the creation or execution of the exercise’s fictitious scenario and was deliberately not informed of its details in advance. It’s not accurate to suggest that certain details of the exercise somehow reflect views or opinions of officials of the Ohio National Guard.”

By: Jesse Hathaway

Documents from an Ohio National Guard (ONG) training drill conducted last January reveal the details of a mock disaster where Second Amendment supporters with “anti-government” opinions were portrayed as domestic terrorists.

Ohio National Guard Shifts Blame for Questionable Training Drill

Responding to Media Trackers reporting, the Ohio National Guard (ONG) has denied involvement in the planning and execution of a training drill where Second Amendment supporters with “anti-government” views were depicted as domestic terrorists.

Police called the ONG 52nd Civil Support Team after discovering that the victim and the school’s chemistry teacher were members of an “anti-government movement” planning to “cause harm to the community.”

Local news reported that during the drill, documents were found identifying the terrorists’ motive as “protecting Gun Rights and Second Amendment rights,” and Media Trackers provided further context this Monday using ONG documents obtained through an open records request.

On Tuesday, ONG issued a statement that the exercise “was created and run by the West Virginia National Guard” and that “the Ohio National Guard wasn’t involved in the creation or execution of the exercise’s fictitious scenario.”

“It’s not accurate to suggest that certain details of the exercise somehow reflect views or opinions of officials of the Ohio National Guard,” the statement concluded.

“The 52nd CST conducts extensive training, and in training year 2013 the team participated in more than 20 hazardous material response exercises in a variety of locations,” ONG added.

During a previous interview with Media Trackers, ONG spokesman James Sims II denied that the training scenario took place as described by internal ONG documents, ending the interview when excerpts from the documents were read to him.

While local and state officials have not apologized for participating in a drill that portrayed Second Amendment supporters as terrorists, leftist groups sought and received an apology in a similar situation last year.

Expressing regret over their “choice of scenario,” Athens County EMA Director Fred Davis and Athens County LEPC chairman Dan Pfeiffer said in a joint statement that “the scenario caused distress to people.”

“We strive to bring our county together and our standard is to remain neutral on local issues. We fell short of that standard,” the statement continued.

“There was no intent to offend any local group,” Pfeiffer told the Athens Messenger.

As Media Trackers has noted, disaster training involving left-wing terrorism has a much stronger basis in reality than training depicting Second Amendment supporters as terrorists

Matteo Renzi’s likely centre-right coalition partners in Italy have asked for more time to agree on their agenda and the division of cabinet posts

HASTA AQUI EL FLAGELO DE SAMITIER….

Pelosi: the Founding Fathers Would Totally Support Obamacare

America’s Founding Fathers fiercely held to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—values which Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) claimed align seamlessly with Obamacare.

Pelosi explained why the law is “very sound policy” during a press conference Friday:

To go to back to our founders once again, they sacrificed it all for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This law, the affordable care act, is about a healthier life, the liberty to pursue your happiness. That is solid policy, and the mandate is central to that.

This argument should be added to the montage of lies being promulgated by the Obamaadministration.

More than half of Americans oppose Obamacare and 56% claim the law is more about bolstering government control than it is about helping individuals get health care

Should a cop killer’s advocate be appointed by obama to the DOJ?. By Washington Times (DC)

The battle over President Obama’s nominee for the top civil-rights job at the Justice Department is shifting to Sen. Robert P. Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat, a friend of the president who faces fierce home-state opposition to the nominee for taking on the cause of a notorious cop-killer.

Mr. Casey is expected to meet this week with members of the Fraternal Order of Police, a group vehemently opposed to the nomination of Debo Adegbile to become the next assistant attorney general for civil rights. Mr. Adegbile was chief of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 2009 when that group worked to prevent a death sentence for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of murdering Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, where Mr. Adegbile has been serving as senior counsel, approved his nomination last week on a straight party-line vote of 10-8. With Republicans no longer able to filibuster nominees, they’d need to pick up six Democrats to stop the nomination on the floor, and Mr. Casey is one of their most likely targets.

Casey spokesman John Rizzo said Thursday the senator hasn’t made up his mind whether to support the nomination.

“The vicious murder of Officer Faulkner in the line of duty haunts his family and the people of Philadelphia to this day,” Mr. Rizzo said in a statement. “Senator Casey believes that every person nominated by the president of the United States for a high level position such as assistant attorney general for civil rights should be given fair and thoughtful consideration as each senator discharges the responsibility of ‘advise and consent.’ Therefore, Senator Casey will meet both with members of the Fraternal Order of Police as well as Mr. Adegbile himself before making a final decision.”

Mr. Casey met last week with the nominee, whom Mr. Obama is counting on to lead the administration’s fight to defend and expand voting rights. The senator is caught between the expectations of the president, his friend and sometime basketball teammate; and influential people in his home state who oppose Mr. Adegbile’s nomination, including the Democratic district attorney of Philadelphia, the city’s police union and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican.

Another person hoping Mr. Casey will vote “no” is his colleague, Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, Pennsylvania Republican, who took to the Senate floor Wednesday with a poster-sized photograph of Officer Faulkner to rally opposition against the nomination.

Mr. Toomey said Mr. Adegbile and his staff at the Legal Defense Fund “spread misinformation” about Abu-Jamal’s trial and “blocked justice for Danny Faulkner and Danny Faulkner’s family.”

“These LDF lawyers promoted the myth that Mumia Abu-Jamal was somehow a heroic political prisoner, that he was framed,” Mr. Toomey said. “In fact he was a coward and an unrepentant murderer. I do not believe that Mr. Adegbile’s nomination is consistent with the goal of promoting truth and justice in America.”

Democrats are equally fervent in support of Mr. Adegbile, a former child star on “Sesame Street,” saying he is a superb lawyer and highly qualified for the post.

“Debo is careful, he listens, and he understands the importance of building consensus,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat. “Anyone who knows him understands that he is a man of the utmost integrity.”

Mr. Adegbile told the committee that his work on Abu-Jamal’s behalf “was about the legal process.”

“It’s important, I think, to understand that in no way does that legal representation, zealously as an advocate, cast any aspersion or look past the grievous loss of Sergeant Faulkner,” he testified.

Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, is a former member of the Black Panthers. From his prison cell, his rise as an international cause celebre among liberals sometimes obscures the facts of Officer Faulkner’s murder, which are not in dispute.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 9, 1981, the officer pulled over a car in Center City Philadelphia. The driver, who was Abu- Jamal’s brother, resisted arrest. Abu-Jamal, who happened to be nearby on the street, approached Officer Faulkner and shot him in the back.

The officer fired a shot and wounded Abu-Jamal, but not seriously. Abu-Jamal then stood over the fallen officer and shot him several more times, including once in the face, killing him. The policeman was 25.

Police quickly apprehended Abu-Jamal at the scene. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death.

Appeals dragged on for decades. In 2001, a federal judge upheld the murder conviction but vacated the death penalty, ruling that the jury had been improperly instructed.

After further appeals in which the NAACP Legal Defense Fund assisted, and a ruling by the Supreme Court upholding Abu-Jamal’s conviction, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced in 2011 that prosecutors would no longer seek the death penalty. Abu- Jamal was removed from death row in January 2012. He has exhausted all appeals.

Mr. Toomey said all criminal defendants deserve legal representation, but said Mr. Adegbile’s work on behalf of Abu-Jamal veered into political advocacy.

“I do not believe that Mr. Adegbile’s nomination is consistent with justice for the family of Officer Danny Faulkner or for anyone else who cares about the law enforcement community across this country,” he said.

Obama’s executive actions can backfire on Democrats if GOP takes the White House. Republican could dismantle his law. By Tom Howell Jr.-The Washington Times Sunday, February 16, 2014

President Obama’s repeated use of executive powers to ease the rollout of his health care law could be setting the stage for Republicans to roll back the overhaul’s most controversial parts if they retake the White House in 2016, say analysts who have tracked the law’s shifting landscape.

The president has tweaked or delayed Obamacare’s mandates on employers and individuals without Congress on multiple occasions, each in a bid to put out a political firestorm caused by the law’s rocky rollout.

Although he is taking advantage of discretion built into the Affordable Care Act of 2010, those executive powers also would give “a future President Rand [Paul] or other ACA opponent room to throw a monkey wrench into the works and help try to dismantle the law from the inside,” said I. Glenn Cohen, a health policy analyst at Harvard Law School.

“That said, it was not the president’s decision to delay parts of implementation, so much as the design of the legislation itself, that leaves open this possibility,” he said.

Whether or not Mr. Obama is insulated by the law’s text, Republicans have portrayed Mr. Obama as an imperial leader with little regard for the legislative process. Most recently, Republican leaders ripped into the Obama administration for pumping the brakes on a mandate that requires large businesses to insure full-time employees or pay fines.

The Treasury last week said midsize companies now have until 2016 to comply with the employer mandate, and businesses with 100 or more workers will have more time to comply. The White House previously delayed the rule’s implementation from the start of this year to 2015.

“The president is setting a very dangerous precedent, as are the congressional Democrats who condone it,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.

“There is no education in the second kick of a mule,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

With some such thought in mind, Speaker John Boehner strode to the floor of the House to offer a “clean” debt ceiling bill and relied on Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats to pass it. They did. ”Surrender” and “betrayal,” are among the epithets coming the Speaker’s way.

Yet Boehner was holding a losing hand. Had he added a GOP wish-list bill to the debt ceiling, Harry Reid’s Senate would have rejected it. President Obama would have denounced it as putting at risk the full faith and credit of the United States. Big Media would have piled on. The markets would have been rattled. The Dow would have begun to swoon. Corporate America, cash cow of the Republican Party, would have begun to howl. A clamor to pass a clean debt ceiling bill or risk a new recession would have arisen. And the House Republicans would have caved, as they finally had to cave on the budget bill last fall.

Rather than play Lord Raglan and lead his cavalry in another Charge of the Light Brigade, Boehner chose to withdraw to fight another day on another field. Yet, the Tea Party has a right to feel cheated. When does the Republican Party, put in power by the Tea Party, plan to honor its commitment to halt the growth of the Federal monolith and bring the budget back into balance? Is there is any hope things will be different, should the Tea Party help produce a GOP Senate in 2014? If the Tea Party is in some despair, is it not understandable? For while there are countless proposals and plans to cut back on federal spending, from Simpson-Bowles on, it is impossible today to see in either party the political will to do the surgery.

Consider what would be needed to roll back Big Government. First, the major entitlement programs Medicare and Social Security would have to be peeled back. But any effort to raise the age of eligibility, or reduce the benefits, or trim cost-of-living adjustments, would meet with ferocious resistance, led by the AARP. Indeed, many Tea Party members are themselves among those enjoying, or about to enjoy, the benefits of these programs. Would they back cuts in either one? Democrats say these programs must be expanded, and they will resist any cuts as fiercely as the Republicans would resist any increase in payroll or income taxes. Social Security and Medicare recipients number in the scores of millions. Four million Baby Boomers reach eligibility every year now. That is more then 10,000 every day. Is any party, even a GOP that controls the White House and Congress, going to take on this army?

Consider that other entitlement, Medicaid. Thanks to Obamacare, the number of beneficiaries of Medicaid is soaring. And even should the GOP capture the Senate in 2016, a Democratic minority would filibuster to death any bill to cut Medicaid. As for interest on the debt, another major element in the budget, it has only one way to go, up. For the Fed freeze that has held interest rates near zero for five years must some day end.

Defense is the other big item in the budget. But while the wind-down of our trillion-dollar wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has made cuts possible here, most of these have already been made. And this week the House voted 326-90 to repeal the small cut in the COLA in pensions for working-age military retirees under 62, which was part of the bipartisan budget deal last fall. Members of Congress panic at any suggestion they are shortchanging the troops. Yet, since Y2K, the cost of military personnel has doubled, while the number of those on active duty has fallen by 10 percent. Last December, Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray, in their budget deal, raised discretionary spending in 2014 from the $967 billion it would have been under the sequester to $1.012 trillion.

Invariably, bipartisan budget deals between Capitol Hill liberals and conservatives move the ball further toward the liberals’ goal line. The farm bill just signed by President Obama contains a tiny cut in a food stamp budget that has exploded during his days in office. But nice new subsidies are in there for peanut and corn growers and producers of maple syrup. Embarrassed at what the House went along with, not one Republican Congressman showed up at the signing ceremony.

Can it be that the Tea Party’s dream of a balanced budget, and of a government that ceases to eat up ever more of the GDP, is simply an act of self-delusion? Have the beneficiaries of Big Government become so powerful that any champion of the national interest who challenges them in fixed battle invites almost certain defeat?

For today, America appears to be maintaining speed, or even accelerating, toward that cliff that they all warn us is out there.

From the desk of Ann Coulter

Dear reader of “En mi opinión”

Taking control of the United States Senate in 2014 is one of our last chances to defeat President Obama’s liberal agenda.Electing a Republican Senator from North Carolina is critical to winning the majority, but only a real conservative can defeat Democrat Kay Hagan. The latest polls prove it; Dr. Greg Brannon, the true conservative currently running in the Republican primary, is leading one of Obama’s most reliable allies, Senator Kay Hagan. Greg Brannon is pro-gun, pro-life, and he’s a devoted husband and father. And unlike his primary opponents, he refuses to support amnesty. That’s why I’ve proudly endorsed Greg Brannon’s campaign for U.S. Senate. He’s running against a primary opponent backed by Washington special interests and he needs your help. Greg’s “AD Blitz” Money Bomb ends tomorrow night at midnight! Will you make a generous contribution to Greg’s campaign before tomorrow night’s deadline? Read Greg’s letter below for more information about the campaign and why your contribution is desperately needed. Thank you in advance for joining me and supporting Greg Brannon for U.S. Senate. Sincerely,

Ann Coulter Conservative Author

WND EXCLUSIVE

OBAMA’S ‘BIG BREAKTHROUGH’ COMING BY END OF YEAR. Leaked: Official declaration of Palestinian state AARON KLEIN

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority received a pledge from the U.S. that by the end of 2014, the Obama administration will issue an official written declaration presenting general highlights of a future Palestinian state, a senior Palestinian negotiator told WND.

The negotiator further said the goal is to have the general framework for a deal ironed out by April.

The current framework for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement being brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry calls for the phased implementation of more Palestinian sovereignty within three to five years, the negotiator said.

As part of the written declaration, the U.S. is set to officially recognize Palestinian rights in eastern sections of Jerusalem, without defining the exact territories that would be eventually handed to the PA.

The U.S. will declare on paper that the Jordan Valley territory is “occupied” by Israel and that Palestinians have rights there, the negotiator said.

Kerry is currently discussing a proposal in which Israel would lease some of the Jordan Valley from the PA so some Israeli communities in the area can stay, said the negotiator.

The written framework will also declare the West Bank “occupied,” according to the negotiator.

Besides a declaration on paper, Kerry continues to broker specifics of a final-status deal, the negotiator said.

WND previously reported that Kerry is asking for the international community to administer the holy sites in the eastern section of Jerusalem, while details are still being discussed about whether Palestinians will have some symbolic presence in the area.

WND in December was first to report Kerry’s plan calling for an international administrative mandate to control holy sites in eastern Jerusalem.

The exact composition of the international mandate is up for discussion, but Kerry’s plan recommended a coalition that includes the Vatican and a group of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The international arrangement is being proposed as a temporary solution for about two to three years while security arrangements in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians are finalized, said Israeli and Palestinian diplomatic sources.

WND-TV

OBAMA GETS SATAN CUT FROM ‘SON OF GOD’

Eerie resemblance too much for producers to stomach

Some are comparing Satan from “The Bible” TV miniseries with President Obama.

An eerie resemblance between Barack Obama and Satan in the upcoming “Son of God” movie has prompted the film’s producers to completely banish the devil.

Roma Downey, who co-produced the film with her husband Mark Burnett, says scenes with an actor who portrayed the devil but looked like the president have now been edited out.

“It gives me great pleasure to tell you that the devil is on the cutting-room floor. This is now a movie about Jesus, the Son of God, and the devil gets no more screentime,” Downey told the Hollywood Reporter.

The 20th Century Fox film, which opens Feb. 28, is mainly a reworked version of 2013′s popular 10-hour TV miniseries titled “The Bible.”

As WND reported last year, Twitter exploded with comments from viewers who noticed an uncanny similarity between the face of Mr. Obama and that of the Satan character, played by actor Mehdi Ouzaani.

Media giant Glenn Beck was among the first to make the connection, tweeting, “Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on History Channel looks exactly like That Guy?”

Beck refers to Obama as “that guy,” having vowed not to utter the name of the president in all of 2013.

Rush Limbaugh held up a photo of the actor on his famous “Dittocam” to show viewers that the Satan character was “a dead ringer” for Obama.

“Folks, it is uncanny,” Limbaugh noted, before quipping, “In light of that picture … the question that sprang to everybody’s mind is: if Satan had a son, would he look like the guy [in the White House]?”

For this new project, Downey told the Hollywood Reporter she’s eager to avoid a similar situation, even though Jesus and Satan both made their appearance in “The Bible” miniseries during the same episode, so it would have made sense that “Son of God” also include Satan.

“Someone made a comment that the actor who played the devil vaguely resembled our president, and suddenly the media went nuts,” Downey said Monday. “The next day, when I was sure everyone would only be talking about Jesus, they were talking about Satan instead.”

She added: “For our movie, Son of God, I wanted all of the focus to be on Jesus. I want his name to be on the lips of everyone who sees this movie, so we cast Satan out. It gives me great pleasure to tell you that the devil is on the cutting-room floor.”

When the devilish controversy initially erupted last year, both Downey and her husband blasted those trumpeting the fiendish resemblance.

“This is utter nonsense,” Burnett and Downey said in a joint statement. “The actor who played Satan, Mehdi Ouzaani, is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several biblical epics – including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our president.”

Downey added, “Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love our president, who is a fellow Christian. False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of ‘The Bible.’”

The History Channel, which aired the series, added: “History Channel has the highest respect for President Obama. The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors. It’s unfortunate that anyone made this false connection. History’s ‘The Bible’ is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history.”

Burnett told TMZ the devil has stirred the pot and created a false likeness between Obama and the TV devil.

Burnett believes the real devil is frightened that Jesus has now entered the picture of life and is trying to distract from God’s message by creating a false story.

“What could be more annoying to Satan than talking about Jesus?” Burnett told TMZ. He added he’s confident the real devil’s plan of distraction will not work, saying, “We believe in the light.”

This is not the first time some in the public have made a connection between evil in the Bible and President Obama.

Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA), who is seeking to replace the retiring Senator Saxby Chambliss, is on the list as well. At a recent candidate forum, the moderator posed the following question to the candidates for Chambliss’ seat: “Obama has perjured himself on multiple occasions. Would you support impeachment if presented for a vote?”

Broun and several other candidates raised their hands without hesitation.

And Liberty Counsel Action has finally joined the fight as well. In an email to members and supporters, the organization’s head, Mat Staver wrote: “America has been forced into a constitutional crisis of historic proportions… [Barack Obama’s] abuses have brought us to the point that the People can no longer tolerate his subversion of the Constitution or his willful violations of his Oath of Office.Liberty Counsel Action is calling for the United States House of Representatives to draft Articles of Impeachment against President Obama.”

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. We’re now in the middle of a bloodless coup – the takeover of an entire nation by the hate-America crowd – a cold-blooded gang that despises America’s prosperity, our standing in the world, our trust in God and just about everything about America that is just and good.

When you look at America, you see a monument to the triumph of freedom and prosperity, but when Barack Hussein Obama looks at America… he sees a world in which some people, due to personal initiative and good fortune, will do better than others… and live better than others.

And Barack Obama sees that as fundamentally unfair. Where you see freedom, liberty and the opportunity for any American to be all that he or she can be, Obama only sees greed and bigotry. He even has a term for it, “income inequality” … and he has a solution.

Like so many on the far-left before him, going all the way back to Karl Marx, Barack Obama believes that it’s his duty to mandate “equality of outcome” over “equality of opportunity” and Americans must learn to live in chains… servitude to the iron will of government will be required… to make it happen.

We’ll quote Congressman Steve Stockman again: “Obama defiantly vowed not only to radically expand the reach of government from cradle to grave, but to smash the Constitution’s restrictions on government power while doing it. His goal is to eliminate our constitutional republic.”

How long must we wait to stop this megalomaniac… this American dictator? … How long should we sit back and watch Barack Hussein Obama continue to rip apart the fabric of this country before we take action?

And win, lose or draw, it’s a message that must be sent. While we can’t speak for everyone, as far as we’re concerned, we’d rather fight and fail than simply submit to the tyranny of Barack Hussein Obama.

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution reads: “The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”